Degree Candidate Academic Opportunities

A number of privileges — including academic and research advising support, priority registration (before the general course taker population), Harvard Summer School tuition discounts, and student clubs — can help deepen your Harvard experience and support your personal and professional development. Check out the Degree Candidate Privileges.

Learn more about optional and required research requirements that support your future career and academic aspirations, such as internships (optional) and thesis or capstone projects (required).

A selection of faculty aide jobs are offered by Harvard Extension school instructors to admitted ALB and ALM degree candidates and Premedical program students.

You can apply for a Harvard Divinity School (HDS) tuition voucher to take one four-credit, graduate-level course free of charge that can apply to your Harvard Extension School degree. These courses are offered on campus only.

You certainly won’t want to miss planning for graduation by submitting the mandatory Intent to Graduate form for one of three annual graduation cycles, November, February or May, and participating in the annual Harvard University Commencement (ordinarily the last Thursday in May)!

Special Student status enables students to enroll, on campus, for either one or two courses (two is the maximum) in Harvard College, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, or another Harvard Graduate School (certain restrictions apply). The fee is approximately $6,500 per course.

If you are an ALB candidate at the time of application you need to have completed 64 credits with 32 completed at Harvard, and a 3.5 GPA or higher.

If an ALM candidate, you need a 3.5 GPA or higher.

The deadlines are September 1 to enroll in the following spring term Harvard courses and February 1 for the following fall term courses.

Special Student is a part-time enrollment option, as a result international students who need student visa are ineligible as the I-20 certificate for the F-1 visa can only be issued for full-time enrollment.

Download the:

• ALM Special Student information sheet
• ALB Special Student information sheet

As an ALM and ALB degree candidate, it may be possible to earn a certificate along with your degree.

Pursue your own undergraduate research project under the supervision of an Harvard Extension School instructor or a faculty member at another Harvard school.

ALB and ALM degree candidates interested in applying to medical school can work with our Premedical Program (PMP) advising team.

Harvard Business School Online’s CORe is an online program that teaches the fundamentals of business on a highly engaging and interactive platform designed by Harvard Business School (HBS) faculty. CORe (Credential of Readiness) consists of three critical business topics: Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting. As an ALB candidate, you can pursue CORe for credit to gain a valuable business credential that compliments your liberal arts degree as long as you have not already completed similar course content for degree credit (ex. financial accounting or business economics). CORe will count as eight credits of Harvard instructor, upper level, and social science credit. It will also count toward the fields of study in economics and business management and administration. It does not count toward any minors or as a degree course for admission.

You apply directly to Harvard Business School Online and, if accepted, you register and pay tuition for the eight credits through their system. The Harvard Extension School course registration happens automatically. Only select CORe cohorts are available for undergraduate credit (ordinarily, January, May, and September). If you register for the January or May cohorts, you cannot register for additional Harvard courses. Credit is not offered for past or future noncredit cohorts.

Designed for highly motivated adult professional students with a proven track record of success in the ALB program, our Joint Program provides an accelerated pathway to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. In the Joint Program, you earn the ALB and ALM degree in any field we currently offer with four graduate-level courses counting toward both degrees.

Once you earn 96 credits toward the ALB degree with a 3.5 GPA or higher you can petition to apply to the Joint Program.

Advising Tip: It is critical to avoid enrolling in specific ALM preadmission and core degree requirements prior to receiving Joint Program approval, as you may not be able to move forward with the joint degree process due to our repeat policy (e.g., you cannot repeat a course for graduate credit that you have already taken for undergraduate credit). Moreover, any graduate-level course taken prior to Joint Program approval cannot be counted toward the ALM degree, as you need to be close to finishing your ALB before embarking on graduate-level work.